Yankees’ Tanaka, Shreve, Montgomery Combine For No-Hitter Vs. Tigers

LAKELAND, Fla. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Two days after Michael Pineda tossed five perfect innings, Yankees pitchers provided another spring gem as Masahiro Tanaka and two relievers combined for a no-hitter Friday in a spring training game against the Detroit Tigers.

Tanaka pitched 4 1/3 hitless innings and struck out six in the 3-0 victory. He walked two.

Chasen Shreve recorded the final two outs of the fifth inning, and then Jordan Montgomery tossed four perfect innings for the save, striking out two.

Chase Headley and Rob Refsnyder each hit RBI doubles and scored in the victory. Ronald Torreyes also drove home a run as the Yankees improved to 16-5 this spring.

New York manager Joe Girardi didn’t keep the lineup card as a souvenir, but still appreciated the spring training feat.

“I’m happy for our guys,” Girardi said. “It’s fun. Obviously, it means more if it’s the regular season, but still it’s a no-hitter.”

Tanaka, scheduled to start on opening day, struck out six and walked two in 4 1-3 innings. The Japanese ace has thrown 13 1/3 scoreless innings in exhibition play.

“I felt that I wasn’t at my best, but considering that I still was able to put up some zeroes, so that part satisfied me,” Tanaka said through a translator. “The slider and the cut fastball, the location of it, I felt like I was all over the place. The command of those can be better.”

Detroit had just three baserunners, who all reached base early on. In addition to Tanaka’s consecutive walks to Castellanos and Martinez in the first, Dominic Ficociello reached on a throwing error by shortstop Gleyber Torres with one out in the second.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said “there was pride involved” in trying to avoid being no-hit, even in an exhibition game.

“You don’t want to get no-hit, whether it’s spring training or regular season, Wiffle ball in the backyard,” Ausmus said. “It was on the radar.”

Montgomery’s performance, meanwhile, has apparently earned him a spot in the Yankees’ rotation competition. ESPN’s Andrew Marchand reported after Friday’s game that Girardi believes Montgomery, a 24-year-old left-hander, has pitched well enough to earn an exhibition start, adding that he’s “curious” about him.